SCHENECTADY – When the Schenectady Police Department holds its valor day ceremony Tuesday, an officer will receive the Thomas A. Constantine Leadership Law Enforcement Award.

On Thursday, the four past winners of that award, which is named for the well-respected lawman who led the State Police and federal Drug Enforcement Agency, will be recognized during a special luncheon at Ferrari's Ristorante.

Thomas P. Constantine, a retired Niskayuna police department detective, said Wednesday that the honorees exemplify what his father stood for and the dedication he had to police work and Schenectady.

"I think there are people who strive to be like him, want to do the right thing and get promoted, and stay educated," said Constantine. He recalled growing up on Baker Avenue in Schenectady and how much his late father loved the Electric City.

His mother, Ruth Cryan Constantine, will meet with the honorees Thursday to thank them for their service.

Mayor Gary McCarthy and Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney, who gives out the Constantine leadership award, are scheduled to attend the luncheon, noon to 1 p.m. at the 1254 Congress St. restaurant.

Valor Day honors cops for their bravery.

Constantine, a native of Buffalo, began his decades-long law enforcement career with the Erie County Sheriff's Department as a deputy. He joined the State Police as a trooper and eventually become superintendent, a post he held for six years.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed Constantine DEA administrator, where he led more than 8,000 agents in 56 countries, including Colombia, earning that country's the Distinguished Service Medal for his work that netted drug cartel leaders.

In 1999, Constantine retired and started teaching at Rockefeller College School of Public Affairs and Policy. The next year, he continued his police work as the oversight commissioner for policing reform in Northern Ireland. In 2007, he was named senior adviser to the director at the U.S. Office of National Intelligence in Washington.